Get down swamp style this weekend at Bourg festival

JAIME LUGIBIHL DISHMANCorrespondent

Thursday

May 10, 2007 at 10:06 AM

There’ll be music, food and fun at the Grand Bois Park Campground in Bourg this weekend. The semi-annual Cajun/Swamp Pop/Zydeco Festival kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday at the campground. Entry costs $5 at the gate.

Festival goers are welcome to bring lawn chairs and have a great time of family fun at the festival that boasts “a little something for everyone.”

There’s lots of south Louisiana food and even more music.

“They can come on over and sit around the big tent and gather with friends,” said Ernest Dardar, one of the festival organizers. “If they don’t know the person next to them, by the time they leave, they will know who they are.”

Dardar said it’s the south Louisiana style of music that attracts thousands of people to the park for each festival.

Typically, people from all over the country attend. Even people from as far as Canada have been known to head down to Grand Bois for the weekend festival.

The campground, at 470 Bourg-Larose Highway, has been home to the festival for six years.

Money raised during the weekend helps support the parish-funded park.

Dardar said this year’s funds will go toward building a pavilion and replacing electrical plugs at the park.

Many locals keep going back just because of the “crazy, fun” atmosphere, he said.

Saturday night’s “butt” contest has become a tradition at the festival.

Band members play the song called “The Butt Thing,” while female members are judged on just who has the biggest butt.

“We get somebody to measure their butts,” Dardar said. “It’s part of the entertainment and the fun of it. They really enjoy doing it.”

On Sunday, organizers will honor mothers for Mother’s Day. They plan to recognize the youngest mom, the mom with the most children and the oldest mom.

The park itself is something that many people appreciate as they walk the grounds during the festival.

Dardar says the food is a major attraction. Offerings include jambalaya, white beans, gumbo, shrimp patties, beignets, grillades and cracklins.